West Lancashire Green Party select parliamentary candidate

The West Lancashire Green Party has selected local man Ben Basson to stand as their parliamentary candidate for West Lancashire.

A life long resident of West Lancashire, having grown up in Aughton and attended Ormskirk Grammar School, Ben obtained a BSc (Hons) in Wildlife Conservation from Liverpool JMU and now works as a Countryside Ranger for West Lancs Borough Council.

Married to professional folk musician Hannah James, he lives in Haskayne, West Lancs. A keen political activist and environmentalist, Ben was an active member of UK Uncut through 2011 and 2012: targeting corporate tax evasion, and was involved in the 2011 Occupy London Stock Exchange movement, which aimed to highlight and find solutions to the gross inequalities of the capitalist system.

West Lancashire residents are welcome to meet and have a chat with Ben at the Green Party Ceilidh, which is being held on 14th March in the Royal British Legion Club, Lord Street, Burscough from 8 till late.

When asked about what he and the Green Party offer Ben said: "we need to end the failed project of austerity. We need to invest in our communities not strip them of the services they rely on, and we need to encourage the growth of small local businesses, as it is they who are the wealth creators not the multinationals that pay inadequate wages; offer zero hour contracts, and dodge tax.

"We need to see a ban on fracking, as we’ve seen in France, Germany, Scotland, and even American states, including Texas - the birth place of fracking, who are now banning the process due to the horrendous effects it has on the environment and people’s health.

"Instead, let’s see a project of insulating homes to bring down people’s energy bills and take them out of fuel poverty. Let’s invest in renewable energy sources so we’re not polluting the only planet we have to live on.

"The main parties have had a monopoly on power for generations and have put us in this mess. Well, now it’s time for an alternative! Only the Green Party can provide the radical, progressive change required to tackle the social, economic and environmental crises that we face, crises that are the direct result of an out of touch, corrupt political elite that only serves the interests of their financial corporate paymasters.

"A vote for the Green Party is not a wasted vote, a vote for the Green Party is a vote for hope, a vote for social cohesion and a vote for a healthy planet."

You can follow Ben’s election campaign via Facebook by searching West Lancashire Green Party